Speaking at a Mass in Chicago in 1985, Coretta Scott King proposed a year of action against hunger. For food is the most basic of the human rights that Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for in his heroic life.

As the Chicago Tribune reported Mrs. King said the year leading up to the new holiday honoring her husband “must be the fulfillment of the basic needs of the poor.”

Mrs. King said “In every major city in this country, there are people without food. Something is wrong that we have to feed so many. Why should there be poverty with all of our science and technology? There is no deficit in human resources, it is a deficit in human will.”

At the time Mrs. King proposed the year-long campaign against hunger there was a massive famine taking place in Ethiopia. People were starving to death in the African nation, a cruel injustice that we could not ignore.

“People don`t ever have to starve to death, there are solutions. We have failed if we can`t eradicate hunger in Africa and Ethiopia” said Mrs. King.

Americans responded to the cries of hunger in Ethiopia. The Washington Post reported that an interfaith service honoring Dr. King would give its offering to famine relief in Ethiopia.

A great way to honor Dr. King this year would also be a campaign against hunger. Any individual, school or organization could do this and dedicate itself to helping the poor and hungry everywhere.

At home food banks are facing high demand and need the support of the public to keep supplies up. Overseas famine is taking hold in Sudan, Gaza and other war-torn areas.

We need to put up a strong fight against hunger this year. It’s critical to our country domestically and in foreign policy.

Following Coretta Scott King’s plan of a year long campaign against hunger would be especially appropriate this year and encourage activism.

Part of that campaign against hunger could be a series of food drives collecting donations for your local food bank. We have done this in my neighborhood in Ohio very successfully since the pandemic, helping the nearby church provide food to the needy. Our nation’s food banks are also at the frontline of disaster response.  The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank needs donations to help victims of the tragic wildfires in California.

Another good way to help is to be like Dr. King and write letters. You could write to your representatives in Congress asking them to support the fight against hunger at home and overseas. Congress decides the budget for food aid, so it’s important that you raise your voice in support of the poor and hungry.

Educating others about hunger is another important part of any campaign. It’s very rare that hunger gets media coverage so most people are uninformed about this social injustice.

Hunger is escalating worldwide because of wars and climate change. As the UN World Food Program says “343 million people across 74 countries are acutely food insecure, a 10 percent increase from last year and just shy of the record hit during the pandemic.”

If wars continue or another drought hits, that number will likely worsen. We need activism against hunger.

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day you too could kick off a year long campaign against hunger leading up to next year’s holiday. That would be an inspiring way to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and be a champion for human rights.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the Washington Post, NY Times, Newsweek, History News Network and many other news outlets. See www.williamlambers.com

With literally hours left in his two-term presidency, Eisenhower wanted to leave with an important message to the nation. He did so with his presidential farewell address, one of the most influential in our history, on January 17, 1961.

Eisenhower wanted to share his concern with the American people, and for future generations, of the dramatic rise of the U.S. military establishment. After the Korean War had ended in 1953 the U.S. was not involved in any major conflicts. But the Cold War with the Soviet Union was leading to a massive arms race.

Eisenhower knew there was an unseen danger with the United States having such a large military and arms industry. There could be a constant pressure for military spending.

In his memoirs Eisenhower wrote “The makers of the expensive munitions of war, to be sure, like the profits they receive, and the greater the expenditures the more lucrative the profits. Under the spur of profit potential, powerful lobbies spring up to argue for even larger munitions expenditures.”

Eisenhower believed that too much spending on national defense would draw resources away from society, thus weakening it. “Unjustified military spending is nothing more than a distorted use of the nation’s resources,” Eisenhower wrote.

In his farewell address Eisenhower warned America about the military-industrial complex that could lead to excessive spending on armaments. American citizens needed to keep a watchful eye on the military-industrial complex to keep it from spiraling out of control.

In his speech Eisenhower said “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

Eisenhower went on to state his solution:  “Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

American citizens needed to be involved in influencing the decisions of government and to prevent a dangerous overspending on the military. We need a strong defense, but military spending alone would not bring the peace we seek.

As Eisenhower went on to explain in his farewell address “Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.”

Having seen the horror of war as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WWII, Eisenhower had made peace a priority as president. Eisenhower encouraged diplomacy with the Soviet Union, including trying to get a treaty ending nuclear weapons testing. Today, we must also make nuclear arms control and disarmament a priority for reducing the danger and cost of these weapons.

Eisenhower also summed up his presidency and how he planned to contribute to America’s security and world peace. Ike said “Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.”

That line of Eisenhower’s farewell is an example for all of us to be involved in encouraging our elected officials to make the right decisions for peace.

Eisenhower helped his successor, John F. Kennedy, as an advisor during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Eisenhower also wrote a letter helping JFK secure passage of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in the Senate during 1963.

Eisenhower believed ultimately that it was humanitarianism that was the key to building a better world. To conclude his farewell address Eisenhower expressed his hope “that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.”

Eisenhower’s farewell address has many timeless themes for Americans that give us hope. Now it is President Joe Biden’s chance to make a farewell address for Americans today and future generations.

William Lambers is the author of The Road to Peace and partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the NY Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Cleveland Plain Dealer, History News Network and other media outlets.

On Christmas Eve in 1814 thousands of American, British and Canadian families were having their prayers answered. But none of them knew it.  A war was being ended that night by the signing of a peace treaty by American and British diplomats.

The Treaty of Ghent was signed Christmas Eve on Dec. 24, 1814. This treaty ended The War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States. The treaty negotiations and signing took place in Ghent, Belgium.

At last there was peace. The treaty would bring about the end of the fighting and fear that took place along the border of the United States and the British colony of Canada. It ended a war that saw naval battles on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. The Capitol and White House in Washington, DC were burned to the ground in the war.  Towns and cities in both the U.S. and Canada suffered destruction during the conflict.

But with the peace treaty there was hope for the future. It took days and weeks for news of the peace treaty to reach everyone.

When it did there was rejoicing. An article in the Connecticut Courant read “After having suffered all the evils of war, attended with an enormous load of taxes, the return of peace is greeted by all classes, with the most lively enthusiasm.”

Just a year earlier the Courant reported on the tragic events of the war in the Niagara region of Western New York, including the burning of Buffalo by British troops.

On January 18, 1814 the Courant reprinted an account by Maj. H. Norton:  “Buffalo was to be sacrificed to the vengeance of the foe, and the whole of this pleasant flourishing village has been laid in ashes. Such is the horrid character which this war has assumed- a war of plunder and of burning.”

Victims of the war needed humanitarian aid and charity was put into action. The same report in the Courant described efforts to provide “for the relief of the sufferers on the Niagara frontier.” War always leads to hunger and displacement and the impact is felt for years to come.

The Treaty of Ghent not only ended The War of 1812, but it helped lead to future agreements reducing the risk of more conflict. The Rush-Bagot agreement of 1817 disarmed British and American warships on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. This was a wise choice to avoid a costly arms race and prevent a buildup of warships that could lead to more war.

Britain and the United States had tired of fighting each other. It was better to settle disputes at the negotiating table rather than the battlefield. A peaceful border between the U.S. and Canada was forged.

We can only hope those at war will find the wisdom to settle differences peacefully. Aggression and warfare cannot lead to peace or prosperity. Nations cannot develop amid the horror of war.

This Christmas Eve nations in conflicts would be far better off to end the fighting.  It would give people a chance to breathe and rest from the horror of war. Nations should be exploring chances for a lasting peace, and avoiding forever wars.

The Peace of Christmas Eve in 1814 ended an era of warfare between Britain and the United States. The peace allowed communities to rebuild free from the fear of more attacks.

Something to remember this Christmas Eve is that each of us can be an advocate for peace. We can hope that those praying for peace this Christmas Eve and holiday season will have them answered. We all need the Peace of Christmas Eve.

William Lambers is the author of the “Road to Peace” and partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger.  His writings have been published by the Washington Post, NY Times, Newsweek, History News Network, Cleveland Plain Dealer and many other news outlets.

While today’s Thanksgiving is known for parades, football, and shopping the original intent was far different.  President Abraham Lincoln believed Thanksgiving should be a day of praying for peace and caring for war victims.

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Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation of October, 1863 during the Civil War sought to unite the country and build peace. The writer Sarah Josepha Hale had written Lincoln encouraging him to make Thanksgiving a regular national holiday. Hale’s letters made a difference.

“The observance having spread from State to State this year, for the first time, takes its place among the institutions of the nation” stated an 1863 Thanksgiving editorial in the Hartford Courant.  Thanksgiving was here to stay in America.

Turkey was part of the Thanksgiving in 1863. A Chicago Tribune article titled “The Soldiers Thanksgiving Dinner” told of the joy of those getting turkey and chicken at Camp Douglas, The United States General Hospital and the Marine Hospital.

Following Lincoln’s proclamation of caring for those wounded by war, the first national Thanksgiving holiday was a success. Charity has become an important part of the Thanksgiving tradition, helping those most in need.

Lincoln’s idea of Thanksgiving for Charity and Peace is something we should always make a part of the holiday. Charity at home and overseas is America’s Thanksgiving story.

At Thanksgiving in 1947 about 10,000 orphans in Europe each got a big surprise: a food package from America.  The New York Times reported about this Thanksgiving in Europe because of donations from Americans. This generosity was part of the “Silent Guest” plan where families donated at the holidays to send CARE food packages to Europe.This was just two years after World War II when Europe was reeling in hunger.

Imagine the joy for one thousand orphans at the Central Children’s Home in Vienna, Austria who were among those who received the Thanksgiving food packages. More Thanksgiving packages were given to kids in Austria who had been stricken with polio. This generosity offered these kids a bit of hope when they had suffered so much because of the war. Food donations from America saved lives and built peace after the war.

Thanksgiving today offers us a chance to help those suffering during this holiday season. You can donate to food banks feeding hurricane victims in North Carolina, Florida and other areas. Overseas there are starving war victims in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Yemen and other nations that desperately need our help.

You can donate to charities like Save the Children, CARE, Mary’s Meals, Catholic Relief Services, Edesia, Mercy Corps and many others. UNICEF has an appeal to provide food to malnourished infants as supplies are running low.

The UN World Food Program needs our support as it tries to feed millions of starving people in war-torn Gaza and Sudan. These two areas are near famine levels of hunger. The WFP also provides aid in lesser known conflict areas like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over 23 million people face severe hunger. But the WFP needs more resources to feed all the war victims.

There are many nations that need Thanksgiving food and peace. We can do something great to help them by donating and making charity a part of our holiday.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the NY Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, History News Network, Cleveland Plain Dealer and many other news outlets.

It was November 11, 1918 at 11 a.m. when the guns finally went silent, ending the fighting of World War One. The moments after the Armistice brought about the most beautiful, quiet sound of peace.

An Associated Press article described that moment as “Silence has replaced the roar of cannon and the rattle of machine guns.” The U.S. and Allies had defeated Germany and the Central Powers.

Journalist Philip Gibbs was with the British Army in France at the Armistice. He wrote in the Chicago Tribune “the Fires of hell had been put out. It was silent all along the front…..There was no light of gunfire in the sky, no sudden stabs of flame through the darkness , no long, spreading flow above the black trees, where for four years of nights human beings were being smashed to death.”

Back home in the United States the quieting of the guns led to jubilant celebration. In Middletown, Connecticut church bells and factory whistles rang in the morning and a parade started. School and work were called off so everyone could celebrate.

The people in Middletown were quickly reminded of the cost of war. The Hartford Courant reported that news just reached the town that one of its own, Lt. Leonard B. Fuller, was killed in France from an airplane accident. Fuller was a former student at Wesleyan University in Middletown.

My own family experienced a similar tragedy when my great uncle, Ira Pitzer, was killed in France just eight days before the Armistice.

Think how many lives though were saved by the Armistice. But let’s think also how many can be saved today by ending conflicts taking place around the globe.

I think that is the true spirit of Armistice Day, to keep up the mission for a world free from the horror of war. The men and women who went through the First World War experienced a trauma like no other in history before.  Surely, the tribute they would want is a world where no one has to experience such horror. We sadly have not lived up to this noble dream as we have seen another world war and many other conflicts.

But Armistice Day reminds us we cannot give up on peace, no matter how hard to obtain.

We also must recognize the consequences of war which can long outlast the fighting. War leads to food shortages and starvation. Children suffer the most.

Our veterans have often led the fight against the enemy of hunger. After World War One, Lt. George Harrington led a hunger relief mission to Latvia. He also helped secure a ceasefire between opposing forces struggling for power in the country. Harrington also encouraged the start of feeding programs for children at school. That is something every war-torn nation needs to recover.

During World War II, when General Patton’s Third Army was fighting German forces in France, a detachment provided humanitarian aid to refugees. The Third Army’s Detachment C112 “provided emergency hard rations, which included soap, codfish, pulses, biscuits, meat, milk, and chocolate” for French refugees displaced by German troops.

We should never forget those left hungry and displaced by war. Our veterans have not.

The “Silence Heard Round the World” should inspire us all to keep up that quest for world peace. The Armistice brought hope for an end to all wars. That dream must not ever perish in our hearts and minds.

William Lambers is the author of The Road to Peace and Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the NY Times, Newsweek, History News Network and many other news outlets.

“We’re incredibly grateful to Taylor Swift for her generous $5 million donation to Hurricanes Helene and Milton relief efforts. This contribution will help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water, and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms,” said Feeding America’s CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot.

Feeding America is the network of foodbanks across the country, including those providing hurricane relief as we speak.  Hurricane Helene devastated numerous states in the Southeast in September and Hurricane Milton has now caused severe damage in Florida.

In parts of North Carolina the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene destroyed homes and buildings, and much food was lost.

I contacted the Manna Foodbank in Western North Carolina and they said their facility suffered extreme damage from the hurricane’s floods. Donations are critical to help them so they can help those in need.

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Even though the rains and winds have passed the aftermath of destruction will go on for months or even years to come. There were families that were struggling in hunger and poverty before the hurricanes hit.  Think how much worse their situation is losing homes in the floods.

Hurricane damage to infrastructure and businesses harms the livelihoods of millions. We must keep up the pipeline of food supplies to prevent hunger over this long recovery process.

Taylor Swift’s donation to Feeding America shows that feeding the hungry is a priority. You can make a difference too by holding a fundraiser. As the city of Hendersonville, NC pointed out in a recent post financial donations are what’s needed at this time.

You can also help by writing to your representatives in Congress encouraging them to support food assistance programs in upcoming budgets and legislation. In addition to supplying foodbanks one key program for states impacted by hurricanes is The Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as D-SNAP. In the months to come D-SNAP will help families get food assistance by giving them purchasing power at grocery stores.

The Biden-Harris administration has been very supportive of hunger relief, and just announced with USDA an additional billion dollars in emergency food assistance across the country.

More will be needed in the long haul given the impact of the recent hurricanes and as well as other disasters like drought. It’s always important to let your elected officials know you care about fighting hunger.

Feeding the hungry is vital in America as well as overseas. We cannot forget there are massive needs in other countries too as starvation looms for millions in war and disaster impacted countries.

If everyone gets involved, hunger can be stopped. Food aid rescues families and changes communities for the better. Taylor Swift taking the initiative fighting hunger is very positive and encourages everyone to get involved.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.”

Speaking before a youth conference on famine relief in July of 1946 Truman said “You can make a contribution to this situation with which we are faced….by bringing home to our people the necessity for still contributing to the feeding of the world.”

Although World War II had ended in 1945, the enemy of hunger remained in Europe and Asia. Food shortages always accompany war and long outlast the fighting.

As World War II was the biggest conflict in history, the biggest threat of famine was the result. Millions were in danger of starving to death in the war-torn countries in 1946 because of food shortages.

President Truman had to rally the nation and the world to stop the threat of famine. Calling the young people of America into action was part of Truman’s plan.

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The Youth Conference was meant to keep the issue of hunger front and center among the American public. This was important for preventing food waste and encouraging donations to hunger relief. The famous CARE package, for example, was one way people could donate to overseas hunger relief.

“A lot of people now will be saying to you that they are sick and tired of hearing of starvation and want. Maybe they are, because this great country of ours very seldom comes to the point where any segment of its population is on a starvation basis. We can’t appreciate what goes on in those countries that have had their farms and their homes and their property completely destroyed” said President Truman to the students.

Truman knew that fighting hunger overseas was going to involve a lot of assistance over many years. This meant maintaining public support of the effort.

“I know youth can keep the fires burning that will cause us to be able to see that the world does not starve, after winning the victory for freedom and right” Truman said.

The young people after World War II did help in the victory over hunger and preventing famine. Whether it was preventing food waste or holding a fundraiser at their school, young people took action. They made a contribution to the fight against hunger. When everyone gets involved, hunger can be defeated.

U.S. food aid was essential to winning the post-war peace. The millions of infants being saved from malnutrition, and children eating school lunches in Europe and Asia was proof of this.

Today, young people can also save lives and build peace by speaking out against world hunger.  Students can work together to make fighting hunger part of their curriculum and school activities. Like President Truman said, educating others about hunger is the key.

Students can host events telling others about the famine in Sudan, Gaza and the drought in Southern Africa. They can talk about the impact of malnutrition in infants and the need for emergency food aid in war and disaster areas. According to the UN World Food Program “As many as 309 million people are facing chronic hunger in 71 countries.”

The more people know about the hunger crisis, the more it will become a priority.  That concern will be passed on to their representatives in Congress. This is so crucial because fighting hunger has to be a priority for the government when making its foreign policy. The public can play a role in crafting that policy.

During the school year, students may find one of their best and most important lessons is being an advocate for the world’s hungry.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the U.N. World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger.

The 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, between the U.S., U.K. and Soviet Union, banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere, underwater and outer space. The treaty was actually signed on August 5, the day before the Hiroshima anniversary.

The U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9). Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed or wounded by the blasts and in the aftermath. The atomic bombs brought an end to World War II. But they also gave rise to the Cold War nuclear arms race.

The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty offered a ray of hope upon the 1963 Hiroshima anniversary. But the treaty still needed to be approved by the U.S. Senate.

The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty had overwhelming public support and that of both President Kennedy and former President Eisenhower. The Limited Test Ban Treaty ultimately passed in the Senate that fall. Other nations joined the treaty as well.

Think how important the Limited Test Ban Treaty was less than one year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, which placed the U.S. and Soviets on the brink of nuclear war.

Now on this 2024 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, we again need hope and action on nuclear disarmament.

Nuclear arms control treaties are stalled. In fact, the U.S., Russia and China are all modernizing their nuclear arsenals. There are over 12,000 nuclear weapons still in the world, almost ninety percent of them held by the U.S. and Russia.

With the war in Ukraine and the threat of a new arms race, the nuclear danger is increasing.

There are nine countries that possess nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. We can’t have anymore and we certainly can’t have any of these nations testing nukes.

On this year’s Hiroshima anniversary citizens could write to their representatives in Congress like they did in 1963. You could tell the President and Congress to pursue nuclear arms reductions with Russia and China. The Senate should ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which goes one step beyond the 1963 limited treaty and bans all nuclear testing including underground blasts.

For if the United States could convince China and Russia to also ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, it can be an opening to nuclear disarmament talks. We need to do something to jumpstart nuclear disarmament again.

The U.S., China and Russia are headed toward a nuke arms race that none of them can afford. It would be expensive and dangerous to build up the nuclear arsenals.

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The nuclear powers have a shared interest in not wasting resources on nuclear arsenals. The benefit of new arms control treaties would be to save money in the long run, and also encourage diplomacy to resolve disputes.

The key is for the public to be engaged and advocate for nuclear disarmament. The activist group Back from the Brink is encouraging citizens to write their representatives on the anniversary of Hiroshima. You can make your voice heard in the struggle for world peace.

William Lambers is the author of Nuclear Weapons and The Road to Peace. His writings have been published by the NY Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Cleveland Plain Dealer, History News Network and many other outlets.

As President Dwight Eisenhower said of Memorial Day “Let us reverently honor those who have fallen in war, and rededicate ourselves through prayer to the cause of peace, to the end that the day may come when we shall never have another war—never another Unknown Soldier.”

America’s aspiration, as President Eisenhower said, is “that war may be removed from the earth forever.”

But on this Memorial Day we must be deeply worried about the number of conflicts taking place around the globe. Wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan have been escalating in recent months.

With these wars comes other horrors such as famine. Millions of people are starving to death in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Burkina Faso, D. R. Congo and other conflict zones. Wars must end so that famines can be prevented.

Famine is another reason why on Memorial Day it is important to speak out against war. Resorting to conflict should only be a last resort as a policy.

The United States must always be the leader in promoting peace, in guiding nations away from war. We know the horror of war, and many of our families has experienced the trauma and sacrifice. Peace is the only alternative especially in this day and age of advanced weaponry.

It is very troubling that there is such an escalation in arms buildups, which increases the risk of catastrophic war.

World military expenditures rose to an all-time high last year of $2.443 trillion according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI.

“The unprecedented rise in military spending is a direct response to the global deterioration in peace and security,” said Nan Tian, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “States are prioritizing military strength but they risk an action–reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.”

Nuclear weapons modernization plans are going forward while treaties languish. The more resources diverted to weaponry, the less resources to peacemaking.

How does a world build peace if its resources are dedicated primarily to weapons? No true peace can emerge under such conditions. Disarmament has to remain a goal of the United States, to get all nations to reduce their weapons.

Why couldn’t the United States, Russia and China reduce their nuclear weapons arsenals by at least 50 percent in the next five years? Each nation has too many nukes already, so why not start reducing them in a joint effort. The U.S., Russia and China should all ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which bans all nuclear test explosions. These are all steps to reduce international tensions and encourage diplomacy to help end and prevent wars.

As we reflect on Memorial Day and the sacrifices made, we must do more to build a world at peace. Those who gave their lives want us to live free from the horror of war. We must keep up the quest for peace to best honor their sacrifice.

William Lambers is the author of “The Road to Peace” and partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.” His writings also have been published by The Washington Post, Newsweek, History News Network, Cleveland Plain Dealer and many other news outlets.

Crews loaded the Allied planes with over a thousand tons of supplies to be used in the mission. Their target was numerous cities in the German occupied part of the Netherlands.

The Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight Eisenhower, cabled the Netherlands government in exile in London with the result of the May 7 mission. It was a success with Rotterdam and Utrecht among the target cities reached in the Netherlands. Many tons were successfully dropped by U.S. and British planes that day, but these were not bombs.

In fact, this Allied mission involved not a single weapon. U.S. and British planes were dropping food to starving people in the Netherlands.

Famine emerged in the German occupied Netherlands during the Hunger Winter of 1944-45. Food had run out and people were dying on a daily basis from hunger. So even though the fighting of World War II in Europe had ground to a halt by May 7, the campaign against hunger was accelerating.

In April, 1945 the Allies negotiated with the German occupying forces in the Netherlands to allow food to be dropped to end the starvation. It was a remarkable humanitarian airlift that got started on April 29 with Operation Manna led by the Royal Air Force. The U.S. Air Force also began food drops into the Netherlands on May 1st with Operation Chowhound.

Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945 with V-E Day (May 8) officially bringing the war in Europe to an end. The enemy of hunger though was still going strong. The U.S. and Britain had to continue with airlifts to save millions from starvation. In early May, Canadian forces began truck convoys of food into the Netherlands.

This heroic mission was made possible by the stockpiling of food in the already liberated section of The Netherlands and in British depots for the air drops.

The Netherlands was saved from famine, but this was just the start of a long war against hunger.

The war against extreme hunger in Europe would continue for years after V-E Day. It took a herculean effort by the United States to prevent the biggest famine in history in Europe after World War II.

That is something we must remember about World War II, the fight against hunger that went on for years in the devastated countries. War always leads to hunger, and the food crisis often continues long past the final shots are fired in a conflict.

Wars taking place today in Gaza, Sudan, D.R. Congo, Ukraine and other nations are causing hunger emergencies. These will continue long after the wars mercifully come to an end.

For those who are making decisions about fighting wars, remember the enemies that emerge as a result. Hunger, as well as chaos result from war. These scourges can have very long lasting implications that can lead to more wars and unrest.

General Eisenhower saw the impact of war up close and spent the rest of his life of service trying to avoid it. People who understand war are the ones most likely to avoid and prevent future ones from occurring.

V-E Day is a celebration of the end of the World War II in Europe. It should also remind us of the horrors that war causes like famine. War always creates that powerful enemy of hunger and famine that is hard to defeat.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the Washington Post, Newsweek, Cleveland Plain Dealer and many other news outlets. His father, Vincent, served with the U.S. Army in the liberated section of the Netherlands at the end of World War II.